Love Games
by Society's Failure
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto has managed to sustain his crush on one Ms. Haruno Sakura over the past few years, and even a few more difficulties in their relationship won't stop him now. AU, Senior Year of High School, NaruSaku
1. Cupid's Arrow

"Remember students, the Valentine's Day Dance will be held tonight, in the gym! Come and see who this year's Cupid picks to be our two Lovebirds then." The intercom announcement had been repeating the same thing for the past two weeks, and even without it the students of Konoha High School would have been excited for it anyway. Their lives were filled with rigorous studies, constant training for sports and for clubs, and hardly ever throughout the school year was there a chance to just relax and come to school after hours for something other than academics. All the students pounced on those few festivities and dances the school hosted every year, and the Valentine's Day Dance was no different.

And no doubt it was the talk throughout the halls that day. The constant gossip and chatter was a testament to that; who was this year's Cupid, who would he or she chose to be the 'Lovebirds', how good of a match would they be, what kind of food what there be this year, who would be chaperoning the event? So many different possibilities, and just about all of them were discussed. Of course, there were favorites.

Most of the Cupids previously had been quiet, and smart. Most people looked at Shikamaru, who just sighed and walked on. Hinata was a possibility for sure, and then there was always the possibility of Sasuke. Then the top couple? Well, that was just a question that went round and about so many times you would think all of them were together. Sasuke and Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru, Ino with every other guy too, same with Sakura and Sasuke with every other girl, Naruto with just about everybody, everybody with everybody else, and hell. Some people even thought it would be such an awesome idea for Cupid to pick Kakashi to accompany whichever girl. But that was called harassment, and therefore it was a no.

Not like it mattered. Whatever happened, it would be fun, and everybody would laugh and have a great time. Though sometimes… The dance was just the beginning of new things. After all, when Cupid's around, love's in the air as well. Just a matter of finding it.

"Dog breath, which shirt?" Yeah, yeah, he should have probably done the whole what to wear thing the day before, or maybe even the week before. But what kind of lazy male would he be if he had done that? And anything short of lazy male was not enough for Uzumaki Naruto. Or… Was too much, so be the case. Holding up the two button up shirts, one a dark gray-blue and the other a deep red, the blonde watched as his best guy friend pointed at the blue one. Not a lot of thought put into that, based off of the half a second long glance the shirts had received.

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal about this anyway. There's no reason to be so hyped and perfectionist about it," the Inuzuka commented lazily, tying up the laces of a pair of shiny black dress shoes. Oh, like he was one to talk. The Valentine's Day Dance was going to be the occasion upon which Kiba finally asked this one girl out; Naruto forgot her name, but she was interested in dogs almost to the obsessive degree that Kiba was. Which was really saying something…

"I'm not. I just want to look my best, since it's our final year and all," he finally replied with.

"You sure it's not to grab Pinky's attention?"

Naruto couldn't help but go quiet, working on buttoning up his shirt, refusing to look at Kiba. Way to go, self. Give the intentions away right there. And of course the dog man would try to knock it into him that it all had to stop. That, after six years, the crush he had retained since age eleven obviously had not gone anywhere. Which was all true. The blonde had tried his best through those years to get Haruno Sakura to like him, and had failed countless times as the time passed. At the beginning of this year… As his New Year's Resolution—something he had picked up from his American friends—he had vowed he would get over the roseate, and try to go for someone new.

"I thought you made that stupid resolu-"

"I know I did, Keebs. But it's hard, you know? After all these years it's almost like second nature, to want her to like me back. I'm trying… I am. I'll ask Hinata to dance with me this year. How's that?" Surely the shy Hyuuga wouldn't deny him… And hell, maybe he would find a better interest there than he would in Sakura. As much as he doubted that, he would have to force himself to believe it. Kiba walked over and clapped him on the shoulder, a look of sympathy on his fang tattoo'd face. Life sucked pretty hard sometimes.

The doorbell went off, a obnoxious buzzing sound that did its best to deafen all those within Naruto's apartment. Which meant Shikamaru and Sasuke were here, and that it was time to go. Smoothing down the front of his shirt, Naruto followed Kiba out of the building and to the car, already thinking about how he would ask the shy Hinata to dance with him.

When the four got to the dance, it would figure the place was already crowded. They all separated off to their own destinations; Kiba to the nearest pack of girls, Sasuke to go sit in his own little corner and emo around, Shikamaru to Chouji, who was by the snacks, and then there was just Naruto left. He felt a bit awkward alone, and his eyes immediately scoured the dance floor for any familiar faces. Oh look… There was Sakura... dancing with some guy who he didn't even recognize at the moment. Was it Lee? Gaara? Hell if he knew. And determined as he was not to care, he continued his search.

There! Off to the side, talking with Ino. Target sighted. Clearing his throat, he made his way through the crowd, using his height to his advantage to maintain sight with the pair. Ino spotted him first, and was quick to giggle and point him out to Hinata. The raven-haired girl spun around to look at him, her hands clasping together nervously. Grinning, Naruto continued forth, mentally preparing himself. His smile was returned by a small one of hers, and he doubted that this pretty lavender-clad girl would deny him just one little dance.

Which he was right to suppose. Despite her claims at feeling faint, he managed to slip in one dance with the Hyuuga girl before moving on, dancing with whoever else drifted by, really. It was almost surprising how many people approached him with such an offer, and most by people he hardly even knew. But hey. Hard to be not well-known when you were him, right? Oh, that was just his ego being stroked… The time passed quickly, and it was getting towards the end of the event after two hours had passed; almost time for…

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like all your attention towards the front at this time!"

The blonde stopped his dancing, smiling broadly. He had to admit, despite the confusion he had been enduring before, letting loose and hanging was really quite the remedy. But even he stopped for the voice of Tsunade, listening as intently as possible through the whispers still going on, and looking over the heads of his peers to see. Surely it was just going be who was the Lovebirds of the year, though despite himself he was a tad bit curious as to who was Cupid…

"Mr. Cupid, would you please come to the stage?" All eyes whisked around, standing on tip toes to find the one person who should be moving towards the front of the room. A round of applause began as soon as he was spotted, but from his position, Naruto couldn't even tell who it was until he reached the stage. Didn't stop him from clappin', though. And even harder when he saw Sai, the socially awkward boy he and Sakura had befriended years before, stomp up the small set of stairs. His ever calm eyes and blank demeanor was lit by the ghost of a smile, and he waited until the applause died down to take the microphone from Tsunade.

"This year, as the female half of the pair, I have chosen…" stopping for a second, Sai knew he had his audience twirled around his finger. All the girls in the room, save a few, were hoping that their name would be called, though they knew the chances were automatically lowered to those select few everybody called "The Nine". Which meant only three girls were up for the title…

"Haruno Sakura to be this year's Lovebird." A loud of applause ensued once more, with many wolf-whistles and cat-calls accompanying. The roseate, her face almost a darker color than her hair from blushing, walked to the stage, taking the bouquet of roses handed to her before standing next to Sai. Despite himself, Naruto couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked in the light pink dress she wore, so simple but so complimenting at the same time.

'_No, Naruto. You're asking _Hinata_ to dance. That's how it's gonna be. Anyway, she has to dance with whatever guy Sai chooses, right? Yeah…' _His brain dejectedly told him, though he kept his smile plastered on his face. Lucky guy…

"And though he doesn't have the equipment needed…" Wait, what? Wasn't that an insult that Sai used on him? "Uzumaki Naruto is the male I picked to be the Lovebird."

At first it didn't really click, the true meaning of that. At the moment, all he could think was that he had just been publicly insulted by Sai in front of their whole school. "SAI, I'M GONNA KILL YOU AFTER THIS. I DO TOO HAVE THE EQUIPMENT." Oh wait. Did he just shout that in front of everybody? By the facepalm Sakura performed… yeah, he had. Grimacing, he walked to the stage before leaping up onto it, gaining the same round of applause that Sakura had, minus the whistles and calls. No, instead he got shrill squeals by the lowerclassmen, or women, rather.

Oh wait. He was on stage with Sai and Sakura. He was one of the Lovebirds. And Sakura was the other. They were the Lovebirds. And therefore, he would have to dance with her for the rest of the evening. Which also meant that sometime in the next two hours, he would have to kiss her. Because that's what being Lovebirds meant. Because Sai had picked them to be Lovebirds. Braking sound here, crash, smoke, boom.

Stop. Rewind. Pause. Play…. Still not working. Disc scratched, tape ruined, player destroyed, nuke to the brain. So what happened to the 'I'm gonna get over her' thing now? How were you supposed to stop thinking about someone when you were dancing with them, and knowing there was a kiss waiting for you at the end? Was it even possible? Especially since he didn't want to give up in the first place… Hell. If she still didn't think of him any different, maybe it really wasn't meant to be at all, and he could go back to trying to entice other girls after. But until then… Had to act cool.

Bowing over at the waist in an over exaggerated fashion, Naruto tried to hide the combination of exc

itement and uneasiness, not allowing his features to betray his confused state when it came to what he should do. Their audience once more clapped and hollered, and the blonde couldn't help but grin. It felt nice to have the school's support, even if they didn't know the full extent of his attraction. They would act as the excuse for him to make a move, at least…

The pair moved down the steps, with Ino moving forward to take Sakura's flowers while she danced with the guy that had always been considered a brotherly figure. If only she knew… The music started, and as tradition stated, it called for slow dance to be the very last of the night. And of course, after, the event would not be complete until the two Lovebirds shared the expected kiss. That's the way it had been before, and the way it would continue being. If everything went well, that was.

Still blushing, Sakura awkwardly put her hands at the top of his broad shoulders, forcing a smile in reply to the bright one the whisker-marked blonde was giving her. His larger hands settled on the defined curve of her waist, and he could see the people around him picking out partners for the last dance, swaying back and forth after paired, not nearly as uneasy as he and the roseate were. Moving his eyes to meet hers, he could practically feel the discomfort she felt through the stiff hands at his shoulders, and the mirrored stiffness of her body.

"Oh, that Sai…" he murmured lightly, trying to relieve the tension to a degree. She looked up at him finally, slightly surprised. She mumbled in agreement, and Naruto swore he could hear the distant rumbles as his confidence began to crack and crumble into the abyss known as self-consciousness. This was so not the way he had intended on this being, the moment he walked onto that stage… She could at least have tried to look like she was having fun. Even those around them were noticing the look of displeasure etched into her dainty features, showing in every aspect.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" What a question. Obviously there was. Because even if she had been normal, she wouldn't be acting like this. She would be making jokes with him, and teasing him, and doing everything else she always did. Now she was just quiet and reserved to the point it worried him as to what he had done to deserve such treatment. Hell. He hadn't even talked to her throughout the previous two hours of the dance; he hadn't started any sort of argument that he could remember… Hadn't done anything that she usually considered offensive… So what was wrong?

"Nothing, Naruto," she replied, smiling sweetly and patting his cheek softly; should have reassured him. But it did the quite opposite. Since when did Sakura-chan just say 'nothing'? Since when did she pat his cheek? Obviously she was just flat out lying to him. Which was probably worse than being rejected, if he had to think about it. The awkwardness extended through the rest of the dance, and for what had to be the fortieth, or maybe even fourth time that evening, all those around them started clapping, creating a ring around the duo.

"Well… I guess it's time," he mumbled, his cheeks flushing slightly. Way to go, Naruto. Just give away you really want to do this. Sakura did not answer him, even when the chants yelling 'Kiss her!' started. One would think she'd have some sort of reaction… But no. Oh well. If she wasn't going to respond, might as well try and catch her attention with what the crowd wanted; two birds with one stone. Leaning forward and down, the blonde closed his eyes the moment before expected impact…

And opened them when he realized that either he had completely missed her mouth, or he had just been denied and instead given the oh-so-classic 'head-turn-to-get-a-kiss-on-the-cheek-instead-of-mouth' trick. Embarrassment flooded his thoughts, and he could feel his face to his ear tips burn brightly. There were a few snickers from those around them, and about the equal amount of aw's of sympathy mingled in. Sakura's gaze seemed to pierce the floor, still not even looking at him.

Taking a step back from him, she still refused him eye contact, curtsied, and fled the gym, the crowd opening a passage for her to fit through as she bailed out, leaving him standing alone in astonishment. Just when he thought he had a chance, too.

…

…

…

**REPOST. 8D **


	2. Spin The Bottle

"You know, I would think that after two weeks she would at least call you or somethin', you know?"

There were times when Naruto felt all the brotherly love in the world for the dog-boy… But at the moment, it was one of those other times when he wanted to punch the Inuzuka in the face. Yes, most people would have expected Sakura to have phoned him sometime in the past two weeks. If not just for the fact that they used to talk multiple times daily, in school and out of, but maybe because she had kind of publicly humiliated him in front of their whole school at the Valentine's Day, and left without a reason after doing so. Was he really all that appreciative of Kiba bringing it up again? No, not particularly so. It wasn't just his pride that was hurt; he was feeling the results of not being able to talk to her at all.

Or rather, being ignored by her. Oh, he had tried to talk to her all right. In every class they shared, he tried. In every passing moment in the halls, he tried. The blonde had even gone so far as to call her home line, which was answered by her mother, who then told him that she was not feeling well enough to speak to him. AKA, she had even made up something to tell to her mother to ensure that she could continue her silent treatment.

"Yeah. Whatever, man. She'll talk when she wants, I guess. Anyway, why'd you call in the first place?" He knew he sounded bitter, but he couldn't help it. Who was really all that fond of being reminded of their failures both as a proper guy, and then the abandonment as a friend?

"Oh yeah! So, there's a party going on tonight, and I was checkin' to see if you wanted to hit it up with me. Get your mind off of stuff and all."

Hm… A party sounded like a good idea. Something that would keep him focused on the going ons, and not on his thoughts. Sounded pretty much like what he was looking for. "Sure. I'm guessin' Hana's driving?" he asked, smiling slightly at the thought of the elder sister-like figure in his life. Naruto was sure she knew all about what had happened, and would surely know what to say to help him out; she seemed to have a knack for it, which her younger brother lacked.

"'Course. Mom won't let me use the car after last time," Kiba replied sheepishly. Rolling his eyes, as if the womanizing-teen could see him, Naruto couldn't help but laugh. When Mrs. Inuzuka had found out that Kiba had been using the back seat of their car for things other than seating passengers when he borrowed it, she had practically blown out both Naruto's (since he had been at the home during the time of the rant) and Hana's eardrums. Kiba was too busy doing his best to avoid the smack down from a dog's squeaky toy that she had randomly picked up to really notice the loss of hearing.

"Okay then. Just come and get me whenever?" Naruto left it off with a question; hell if he knew what time they were going to come and get him. He was pretty much ready to do whatever. Jeans, t-shirt, and jacket were already on. Not much else to do to prepare himself. A grunt of agreement voiced through the phone, and the click followed by the dial tone signaled Keebs had hung up on him. Putting his cell back in his pocket, the blonde moved towards his apartment's couch, where he sprawled with his feet hanging over the opposite edge where he propped his head on. Snagging his Xbox's remote from the coffee table, he relaxed while preparing himself for some serious win.

Connecting to LIVE was fun, and it he could hardly believe that two hours of mindless sniping and suicide claymore'ing passed before his thoughts began to revert back onto their former track of depressed pondering. Going out with one final bang as he sprang a suicide attack on the opposite teams' base, the blonde bailed out on his team, logging off and tossing the remote back onto the table before rolling onto his back once more.

Staring up at the slow moving ceiling fan, his blue eyes glued themselves to one blade in particular, watching it make its rotations mindlessly. Normally he would go out on a walk or something of that sort, while he was in this kind of 'I'm gonna think about what's happened' mood, but with the new arrangement that Kiba had created for him, it was less than ideal. So he would just have to stick around in his house until he was picked up to go do whatever. Kiba hadn't even told him where the party was being held… Not like it mattered much anyway. It wasn't a problem. But eh…

Taking his iPod out of his jean pocket, he unraveled the bright orange wire of the headphones before shoving one of the squishy buds into his ear. Setting the electronic to Shuffle, he began to tap his foot to the beat of the American song that came on; it was Rise Against, if he could remember his music right. Now, well prepared with some background music… It was thought time

'It wasn't even that big of a deal. But she was acting like being there with me was so terrible… Does she really think it was such a bad thing that we were paired like that? Maybe I'm just biased cause of how I've felt… What was up with her running off, though? I thought she would at least play along for the sake of the dance and all…'

'Maybe she didn't know what to think of it?' Oh, there was that other voice that sometimes dabbled into his conversations with himself. He couldn't tell if it was his gut talking, or his heart, since it hardly ever seemed logical. It was the more optimistic of his two inner voices. Yep. Probably his heart.

'What else was there to think of it? It was a stupid dance, and stupid Sai had to go and put us together, and then stupid Sakura had to run off when all she had to do was kiss me! I know for a fact I'm not that bad, unless I've been lied to…'

'Maybe she didn't want to know that you were a good kisser.' Such odd things his heart was saying to him. Way to boost the ego, yeah, but not really what his confused thoughts needed at the minute.

'What's that supposed to mean?' his brain asked his heart. There seemed to be implications there that really weren't needed to help him. Why did this all have to happen right as he had finally planned on stomping out the last of the hopeful embers that was the remains of his years-long crush? Way to go, Sakura. Making him, when he finally made his choice, doubt giving you up, hand him a platter of hope, and then slam it into his face and Sparta kick him into a pit of more doubt.

'Well-' BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Jumping, the confused teen found himself on the floor from his show of surprise, and grumbling under his breath, he shoved himself up. He really needed to get that stupid doorbell replaced with something more pleasant. He should get a song for it. Or even just a normal 'ding dong'. But the loud buzzing was just terrible… Walking over to his apartment's door, he quickly pulled it open, and was greeted by the smiling, tattoo'd faces of the Inuzuka siblings. Hana wasted no time in pulling the blonde into quick hug, ruffling his hair, and glancing around his place with a disapproving eye.

"Naruto, how the hell do you expect to bring any hot girl back here with it being a mess like this? Turn-off, much?" the female vet tech told him, hands on hips as she studied the mess that made up his apartment. He hadn't been all too gung-ho for cleaning it, as he usually did at the beginning of each week. Three weeks of buildup sure was showing pretty fast. Sticking out his tongue at her, Naruto grabbed his orange and black jacket from the back of one of his dining table's chair, shrugging into it while slipping his feet into bright orange shoes. He'd lace them up while on the way.

"I don't. I'll take care of it later, probably," he replied while making a sweeping gesture towards the door. "Let's go already," he added, laughing at the dirty look he was immediately shot by the two siblings. However, the two retreated back outside of the apartment and began walking towards the stairway to the ground floor.

"Oh, look at you. Actin' like you were ready to go in the first place," Kiba said, while Hana came up on one side and slapped him upside the head. The trio laughed, and continued their teasing until they got to the car. Party time.

…

After a car ride full of loud word games, wild swerving as punches were thrown, and other various activities, the docile appearance of the 'party' was seriously looking like they would just end up bailing, and continue on in the car instead. There was nothing so exciting about the exterior… Climbing out of the vehicle, loud music thudded from inside the house, immediately changing their opinions. Okay, obviously there was _something_ going on inside; maybe it wasn't so bad as it appeared.

They all walked up to the door, and Kiba knocked on the door, pretty damn close to pouncing it in with how hard he was 'knocking'. Over the blaring music, they could hear hollering from within to let in the people at the door, and soon said door was opened by a pretty girl that the two boys recognized from their history class. A drink in her hand, she affirmed one of the most important 'need-to-haves' at a teen party; yes. There was alcohol. Hana and Naruto continued in, while Kiba already was making a target out of the pretty girl, beginning the evening's round of flirting.

"Hanny, do you even know whose house this is?" the blonde questioned the elder Inuzuka, glancing around at the decently sized crowd; there seemed to be plenty of kids from his grade and under, and some of them he recognized as college students. Who was throwing the party?

"Uhh. Some guy whose name starts with an S. Kiba knows him, and he said to invite you. I just came for kicks," she replied, and waved to him as she darted through the crowd to get to a cluster of college boys; the Inuzukas didn't waste any time, did they?

Sighing, Naruto looked around for a familiar face, but instead found himself face to face with a cute girl he knew from his math class. Smiling, he accepted her request to dance, getting dragged to the mass of bodies that moved to the beat of the music. They talked, and it was while talking and dancing with her (her name was Mizumi, if he heard right) that he found out he really did know the party's starter. The 'Some guy whose name started with an S' was Sai, much to his surprise. Who knew the socially retarded teen knew how to throw a party? And a good one at that…

Three hours of dancing, flirting, talking, eating, drinking, and other things later, much of the population was disappearing out the door. By midnight, only those who knew the host well were left, and could be found in the basement, chilling for the most part.

Naruto was sitting on one of the large beanbag chairs he had discovered off in a corner, debating (more like yelling) with Kiba about the lacrosse team that year, balancing the drink he had been given on his knee. Even after the whole duration of the party, the blonde had managed to avoid alcohol for most of the time, and just barely above the mark that marked him as 'doubly bold and obnoxious,' which really wasn't saying much given his norm. Kiba was past the mark, and verging on the 'I'm puuuurfectly fi' ' line, which meant he was just about drunk.

On the other side of the room, there was bar that on average, so it was guessed, was not usually full of the various liquors that stood in its many cabinets, with the hired bartender standing behind it. Well, that was an unfamiliar face for most of them. He introduced himself as Suigetsu… Hrm. Sai seemed to know him pretty well.

Ino sat on one of the bar stools that was drilled into the floor, spinning around on it to see how dizzy she would get while her pink haired friend sat quietly, doing her best not to peek out the corner of her eye towards the blonde male at the other side. Sighing, she propped her head up on her palm, elbow on the bar's smooth top. The fishy bartender walked over to her, raising a brow in question. "You just gonna sit there, or are you even going to drink anything?" he asked challengingly, more than happy to try and get a pretty girl drunk. Hell. He might even get a hook-up after this whole deal was good.

"Fine. One Chiquita Gitta. Amaretto, banana liquor, cream, and cherry juice. Got it?" she snapped back, green eyes sharp. Raising his hands in front of him in surrender, Suigetsu chuckled as he prepared the cocktail. Girl knew how to pick it out fast, she did. He'd probably be better off trying to get some from the blonde girl, though… Sliding it over the bar, he laughed again before returning to his constant glass cleaning. They were pretty much all too busy with their current drinks, or talking, to bother getting new ones.

"Hey guuuuys!" came the loud shout from Ino, still coming to a stop from her spins. "I fink… We shhhhould play a game!" Throwing herself into a fit of giggles, the attention of those remaining were, for the most part, piqued. Sakura face-palmed, wondering if she should bother trying to restrain the drunk girl… Naw. She was fine. Sipping down her drink at a rate that left it half gone, the roseate reached over to steady Ino as she stood up and leaned over the bar area to whisper in Suigetsu's ear. Whatever she asked for, he was glad to comply. Handing over an empty bottle to the teen, Sakura narrowed her eyes.

There was only one game that she of that required the use of a bottle. Was Ino crazy? … No. She was drunk. Grimacing, she returned to her drink, inhaling the rest of it. "That's usually not for downing. I'll get you something stronger if you want to shot it," Suigetsu remarked, smirking. His smirk only grew wider at her scowl. He took the initiative to make her something he had made up himself, and when she was handed it, she took it without a word. Staring down into the liquid concocted before her, she hardly heard their moving around behind her, going along with Ino's idea for shits and giggles.

"Shakuraaaaaaa." Groaning inwardly, she glanced over her shoulder to see her best friends all set up in a circle, Ino calling for her in all her drunken glory. "Come oooooon," the blonde drawled, but frankly, her verdant eyes weren't on that blonde. No… They were on the one that faced the other way, talking to his friends cheerfully. Suddenly, all attention was on her, and the blue eyes she did not want to see latched onto hers, drawing her in… Well crap.

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Sakura before giving a small smile. It was the first time in two weeks since they had even seen each other, and even with the encouraging effects of the alcohol he had drunk, he could still feel the pain of rejection bite down in his stomach. Moving to look at those in the circle, he named them off in his head. Ino, Kiba, Hana, Sai, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Hinata, Tenten, himself… Five boys and four-

The empty space next to Ino was suddenly taken directly across from him, and he watched, slightly surprised, as Sakura slammed down the shot of whatever Suigetsu had given her. Falling to her knees, she smiled while Ino hugged her, going on about ready to have some fun now that her bestie was there or something. A dropping feeling reeled inside of him. The chances that either one of them would spin the other was highly unlikely… But still. If she had the balls to bailout at the Valentine's Dance, she could probably do it here, too. Sighing, he gulped down the rest of his drink (the manly drink, Kiba had said. Tasted like a mixture with cola, though) setting the glass down behind him.

"We aaaaall know the rulesh. Sooo we'll jusht get ri' to it!" the Yamanaka girl said brightly, slurring and lisping all over the place. Not that some of them had much room to talk. Kiba was right up there with her. Damn party animals. "I'll shtart." Gripping the beer bottle, she twirled it round, sending it off in a spin. Everyone held their breath; it was just a game, but some people probably wanted, or did not want, some turns more than others. Round and round and round…

The top of the bottle slowed, and pointed at the just-as-drunk-Inuzuka boy. With everybody watching, the pairs' lips met over the center of the circle, admittedly with some technical difficulties on their wobbly selves. Naruto clapped for his friend, just as most everybody else did. The blonde couldn't help but notice, however, that there was one person hardly paying attention at all to the game itself; was it really a surprise to see that Sakura wasn't having fun with this game? Didn't seem to be one for kissing, anyway…

Kiba spun, and made a close save from landing on his sister as the Spin The Bottle gods blessed him, and glided until it landed on Hinata. From there, after a overly dramatic kiss from the dog boy which led to the bright red shade of her face, the Hyuuga heir spun and landed on Shikamaru. Always the perfect gentleman, and not willing to put much effort, he gave her a peck on the cheek instead, much to the 'awwws' and 'boooos' of those around. Barely giving the bottle a twist, the glass only spun around once before it landed on its mark; and much to the instant-jealousy-that-was-just-as-instantly-pushed-down, that happened to be the currently quiet, almost mood-ruining Sakura.

Surprise lit her pale features at being chosen. Well… That's how the game was, right? And she could have denied them her inclusion of it. But nooope. Had to go and be a martyr. Now she was going to find the consequences. Luckily for her she didn't get Kiba, or else she would be forced into a overly wet and uncoordinated smooch… Whereas Shikamaru pulled the same courtesy as he did Hinata, and rolled his eyes before pressing his lips momentarily against her cheek. Nodding thanks, the roseate took her place again and reached to complete her turn.

Naruto watched with a misery chewing idly at his insides. Since when did anybody else have the right to even kiss her so chastely? And the chances that anyone else in their number would give her the same treatment as Shikamaru had was extremely low… He knew them all. And even Sai would have no problem with kissing their friend. He was hardly paying attention as the bottle made its rounds at this point, more focused on restraining himself from pouncing on whoever it landed on. Clenching his fist, he realized eyes were on him. Furrowing his brow, he tried to reason why.

Aaaand saw the mouth of the bottle pointing towards him. Eyes shot open, and his mouth parted slightly. Looking up at Sakura, all he saw was the top of her head as she looked at the floor, obviously lost in thought. Silence stretched between them, and the blonde could feel building embarrassment for being caught in practically the same exact situation… Again. Closing his eyes and taking a breath, he felt disappointment and despair fill him, overtaking the slight glimmer of hope that had warmed his heart for a second before being crushed by her expression. Scowling, he felt angry for allowing himself to get so offended over a _game_ of all things. Blagh.

Well, he could at least save himself the added embarrassment of being rejected at the very last second. Glancing up, he was about to tell her to spin again, but found himself startled by the emotion he saw in the emerald green eyes. The room shrunk, and he could feel everybody else disappear in his mind. It was just him and her. Nobody else. Just him… And her.

Naruto felt a core-deep fire come to life inside of him, looking into her eyes, which only grew as she made her way across the circle to him. Hardly able to discern what was happening, he bailed out on the age-old-tradition that they met halfway. But somehow, Sakura didn't make that a problem. She closed the distance on her hands and knees, slowly, not looking away for an instant. Her cheeks were brushed with pink, though the blonde could feel something more forceful and… Dare he think it? Passionate through her eyes.

Seconds that seemed relatively short to their onlookers stretched into minutes for him and her, building the tension for what Naruto knew would not be another bailout. She pulled herself up onto her knees, and put her forearms to rest on his strong shoulders. Lowering her head, he felt her hot, sweet breath mingle with his, her smell cherries and flowers and, in this case, a bit of alcohol. "Fun game, right?" she whispered, smirking deviously. He made to reply, but was cut off as she lurched forward on her own accord, pressing her soft lips against his with force. Grunting slightly from surprise, he felt his heart kickstart into a tempo triple its norm, and eyelids naturally slide down to close.

Without thinking, his hands rose up along her sides, wrapping around her waist while her fingers threaded through his brightly colored hair. It was soon obvious to their onlookers that this kiss wasn't like any of the normal they normally saw during a game, but no one made a move to interrupt.

The feel of her lips on his could not be described as anything less than perfect, from their warmth to just how they melded against his, leaving him drowning in her essence. Everything he had dreamed about was coming true due to some stupid high school game, but hell if he would complain. Her tongue drew a light line along his bottom lip sending a shiver down his spine and trapping a carnal groan in his throat. He pulled her closer to him, intensifying the heat between them.

From outside of their world, Kiba decided it would be a good idea to get things going on even faster. Giggling, the Inuzuka, much to the protests of his sister, leaned forward and shoved Sakura gently into Naruto, but forcefully enough so that the pair were left on top of one another, if a bit startled.

Sakura fell forward onto the blonde, still caught in the liplock until her forehead rapped against his lightly, but hard enough to break the trance they had both been caught in. Instantly a harsh blush filled her cheeks, and she rolled off of him until she stood up and rushed back to her seat. Pushing himself up, Naruto felt his breath blow by forcefully, and still he could taste her sweet lips on his mouth, her smell still a force in his nose, his hands still wrapped around her… A dopey grin spread across his face. Well… That sure changed things.

…

"What a change of events, eh Sai?"

Everybody had already left but three people; Sai, Sasuke, and Suigetsu. Sasuke was still waiting for Itachi to come and pick him up, and Suigetsu was obligated as a hired bartender to stay until the last guest had left. All were sitting at the bar, well… With Suigetsu standing behind it, shaking up some sort of last drink for the trio. "I'm surprised Sakura didn't just do what Shikamaru had done. After the whole Valentine's Day Dance thing… Phew." Grabbing the glass slid to him by the white-haired man, the Uchiha sipped at the alcohol lightly.

"It's to be expected, really," the pale teen replied, emotionless eyes staring dully into his glass. Sasuke raised a questioning brow. What exactly did he mean by that? The eyebrow raise noted, Sai smiled the sweet looking smile he always did. "Well, it wasn't just chance after all that Sakura spun Naruto."

Even Suigetsu was confused now. Of course it had to be just chance. It was Spin the Bottle. A empty bottle and a circle. It was purely a game of chance. Wasn't it? "There's not possible way they could have cheated. Or somebody else for them…" Sasuke drawled on, sipping idly at his drink. Such things Sai was saying… They made no sense.

"Not entirely true." Still smiling, Sai rose his glass up to his lips, ignoring the gazes of disbelief from his two friends.

"Eh? Don't tell me… But how could you do it, Sai?" Suigetsu asked, his eyes squinted as he peered at the teenager with incredulity. No way. It was impossible, and everybody knew it. Right?

"Hm. I have to use the restroom," was their only reply, and as Sai abandoned his seat in favor of climbing up the stairs, Sasuke and Suigetsu were left in befuddlement thinking about how, and why, Sai would rig Spin the Bottle.

…

…

…

**LOLOL BIPOLAR SAKURA YAAY. LOLOL HORRIBLE KISS DESCRIPTION YAAY. LOLOL SAI YAAY. LOLOL DOPEY NARU YAAY.**

**On a more serious note, to explain a bit; Kiba's relationship with Naruto is much like a brotherly one, if you haven't guessed; based off a relationship my Naruto plays with a website's Kiba. Hana is like Naru's older sister that isn't. Suigetsu is close with Sai, and they know each other. Sui's a bartender, and so Sai hired him to do the party drinks. Uhhh… Not much else I can think of right now. xD;; YAAY! Bai gaiz~**

**YAAY REPOST.**


	3. Truth or Dare Part 1

From:

**[Sai]**

To:

**[Uzumaki Naruto] [Haruno Sakura] [Uchiha Sasuke] [Inuzuka Kiba] [Yamanaka Ino] [Hyuuga Hinata] ; [Nara Shikamaru] [Akimichi Chouji] [Aburame Shino]**

Message:

_To all;_

_I'm having another get together at my home this Saturday, and I was hoping that you all would find it in your time to drop by at around six p.m. that day. It will not be nearly as large as last week's party, but I was hoping to just relax with friends. Email back if you plan on attending._

_Sincerely,_

_Sai_

…

…

…

"So your mom's letting you use the car now?"

"If I answer that truthfully, you'll be considered an accomplice."

"… I'm glad you gave me the choice, then, I guess."

Kiba punched Naruto's shoulder, rolling his eyes. Okay, so what if he had kind of snuck the car out while he knew his mother was gone for the weekend at some sort of animal convention in the US? No one would ever know! Except Hana, and she'd cover for him. The blonde let out an 'ouch', and rubbed his arm while glaring at the driver. It wouldn't be all that smart to punch the Inuzuka while he was speeding through the roads that led to Sai's house, him already being a… Dangerous driver already, to say the least.

"Sai's been quite the host/problem causer thing lately, hasn't he?" Kiba said lightly, honking the horn angrily at some careless kids who decided to try and beat him across the road. Naruto's grip on his car door's handle tightened. One of these days, they were actually going to end up hitting somebody…

"Yeah, I guess." He guessed? No, he knew. Well… Only two real events, but once was a chance, twice was a coincidence… And three times is a conspiracy. But would it really be such a bad thing if whatever the hell Sai was doing meant that attempts were being made to bring Sakura closer to him…? If that was even the secretive, usually unsocial teen's goal. Which wasn't stalkerish _at all._ Nope. Not a bit.

"Oh come on! I might've been drunk as hell at the party, but I still remember you and Pinky's smooch." Oh yeees, that. It was a surprise that Kiba could even remember any part of the party the previous Saturday… He had gone home absolutely slammered. And of course was already verging on that state when everybody had gathered in the circle and played Spin the Bottle. And of course again, just about slammered when he had to go and interrupt and knock them over… Damn drunk people. Always had to go and ruin the most perfect of moments ever.

"I don't know what he's up to, but I'm not gonna comment on it," Naruto replied, grinning at the memory. The whole deal at the Valentine's Day Dance hadn't been all that pleasant, needless to say. Getting ditched in front of their whole school after having brought everybody's attention to their pairing wasn't something that he could find a silver lining in. But that memory was already on the back burner, replaced by the more vivid and blood heating kiss that had been started by Sakura herself, without any sort of instigation from him. Unless sitting in the right seat for the game counted. That kind of erased the bad stuff, in his mind.

"Whatever, man. Just exclude me from everything in your life. I see how it is," Dog-Breath said in return, mock sniffling. Naruto cocked a brow at his best friend, shaking his head as the car jerked to a halt in front of the rather large front of Sai's house. How he managed to get a two story house with a basement and an actual backyard was beyond just about everybody. He lived alone, no parents that were known of… Just another one of the mysteries that surrounded the oddly pale teen. Opening his door, the blonde stepped out of the car, soon joined by Kiba as they walked up to the front door. Knocking, they waited for a minute before letting themselves in; oh, such criminals for breaking and entering a house they were invited to.

Voices whispered through the house, and following them, the dynamic duo were led to the backyard, where the rest of the crew was already situated on the patio deck area. The actual table was surrounded by the three girls present; Sakura, Hinata, and Ino, all lounging back under the shade the patio umbrella provided. Shikamaru and Chouji were talking about something dealing with food while sitting in a pair of lawn chairs. Sai, Sasuke, and Shino were all leaning against the wooden fence that served as the barrier to keep those on the raised desk from falling.

All eyes moved to Naruto and Kiba as they came through the doors, the conversations halting. Sai presented the last additions to the group with that odd smile he had, the one where he closed his eyes and tilted his head. Yeah. That one. "It's nice to see that dick-less and the puppy-boy both made it," he commented lightly, much to the laughs of the girls, and instant holding back of the two insulted teens by their male peers. The flare of insulted prides quickly quieted, and Naruto and Kiba made themselves comfortable as they all finally convened into one single topic of talking.

"Any specific plans on what we're gonna do?" Naruto asked the group, a grin on his face while he sipped at a can of Cherry Dr. Pepper he had retrieved from the fridge inside. Eyes went to Sai, who they had presumed would have at least an idea, since he had been the one to call them all together, anyway. But looking at his slightly surprised face… Yeah, they had nothing to do at the moment.

"We could play another game," offered Ino, a smirk tweaking her mouth upwards. Naruto's eyes went to Sakura, and he froze as he caught her staring at him, an odd light in the shadowed jade. A flush of pink that mimicked her hair spread across her face, and she looked away sheepishly. Murmurs around them voiced their agreement for the idea; but what game would they pick?

"Truth or dare was always a fun one," Chouji threw in, shrugging. Kiba grinned devilishly, rubbing his hands together excitedly. Once more the murmurs agreed, though some were more hesitant. A game of Truth Or Dare? With people like Kiba and Ino in company? Either it would prove to be hilariously awesome, or it would suck some major suckage for whoever got called on first.

"Okay, Chouji, since you offered the idea first, you get to pick the first victim- I mean player," Kiba announced, much to the half-hearted laughter of everybody else. Unfortunately, victim could easily become the proper term to be used in the case of their company…

"Uhh… Well then…" The Akimichi's squinty eyes darted around, lingering on various characters… Before settling on the dozing form of his best friend, totally not interested in the game at all. "Shikamaru. Truth or dare, buddy?" The Nara genius sat up with a grunt, lazy eyes closing while he thought.

"Truth."

Groans rounded through most of those present; truths were never quite as fun as the dares, but it was also really the only way to get away with doing something completely and utterly idiotic. Then again, knowing the nosy and seriously too curious natures of _certain_ members of those there… Anything could go. Chouji crinkled his nose while he sorted through the various choices that were available. Ask something stupid and simple, something invading and rude, something funny and awesome…

"So, Shikamaru. Have you…" There was a drawn out silence, even empty of the sounds of breathing. Okay, sometimes they got too into these games, to be honest. Chouji smiled at the dramaticness of it all. "Ever kissed a girl?"

The lazy teen rolled his eyes, and waved his hand like the question itself was a pest. "As troublesome as women are, yeah." Too distracted with their attention on Shikamaru, most of the group didn't catch the deep flush on Ino's cheeks, save for Sakura and he himself. Well, that was something even Sakura, the best friend, didn't know… Hmmmm. "Anyway, don't I get to pick somebody now?" Shika asked, replied to by the nods of Kiba and Chouji. Once more he lounged back, closing his eyes before sighing. "Naruto, truth or dare?"

Smirking, the blonde laughed. "Dare, of course. Give me your best shot." He was too experienced at this game to be afraid of anything that little ol' Shikamaru might throw at him. Chugging down the rest of his soda, he crossed his arms across his chest while waiting expectantly for the dare to be issued.

"Shikamaru, you gonna tell him to do something?" Kiba asked, barely giving the guy a few minutes to think.

"Would you give him a second, Kiba? Damn," Ino replied to the question, giggling behind the smoothie she held to her lips. "I swear, all you ever want to do is get done as fast as possible with everything. Most girls don't like that kind of thing." Snorts of laughter followed the blonde's degrading remark, but Kiba took it into stride with a devilish grin.

"Well, blondie-girl, come back to my place and I'll bet you'll like my tempo." 'Oooooohs' followed the challenge, and a smirk lit her features. Before she could open her mouth to vociferate a come-back, however, Shikamaru decided to weasel his way back into the conversation.

"I think that this is too troublesome. I can't think of anything good enough," he stated simply, tone full of the boredom that seemed to like… Radiate from him.

"Oh, bullshit! You've got the megabrain and all. Just one idea, come on!" Naruto yelled, rolling his eyes.

"Well, since he said he can't do it, I now confiscate Shikamaru's Dare powers. According to rule four of Truth Or Dare, I can do it," announced Kiba, looking pretty damn smug.

"Since when did Truth or Dare have specific rules?" Well, there was Sasuke, finally throwing in his own little tidbit. Damn Uchiha just always stood there, silent…

"Since I just said so! Anyway. Now… Naruto picked Dare, so I'mma give him a good dare," the Inuzuka continued, tapping his chin thoughtfully, gaze wandering to the area around them. There was nothing extreme in the immediate vicinity… His attention went to neighboring yards, which from the elevation the raised deck gave them, showed off in perfect display the rather attractive sunbathers in the yard next door.

"I dare you to strip for those two chicks."

While a look of horror stretched across most everybody's face, Naruto could only grin at the challenge. Even Sai was looking taken aback, looking between the blonde and the two young women sunbathing.

"You can't do that. They're my neighbors," the hosting teen stated simply, obviously under the impression that was enough of a reason to stop the dare in its tracks. Already Naruto was walking down the steps towards the wooden fence that separated the two yards, so deadest on completing the dare.

"You don't think he'll really…" Ino thought out loud, watching with a vague hint of curiosity. Well, from the deck… They'd have just as good as a view, and he wasn't the captain of the lacrosse team for nothing… In the seat next to her, Sakura found herself hiding her face in her hands, unsure of if she should be beating up Kiba for daring Naruto such a thing, or Naruto for not backing down. And despite herself, she didn't want to beat up either because frankly, she was just as curious as Ino. If not more. Their relationship's weird up and down didn't really grant her the ability to see the blonde down to nothing very often… The last girl there, Hinata only watched in open mouth surprised, face beet-red at the very thought of the Uzumaki boy without clothes.

"Of course he will. He's a dobe," Sasuke sighed, shaking his head and wondering why exactly he considered the blonde his best friend. The rest of the guys were left caught between watching to see if he did it, and turning away if he did. Because none of them really wanted to pay particular attention to their buddy's strip-down and try to retain their reputations of straight, after. Already Sai was planning out the apology letter he would have to write to the two nice ladies next door for having to deal with Naruto…

Who at the moment was using his momentum to scramble up one side of the fence, and land heavily on the other. They all watched in mixed horror, amusement, and straight up undivided attention as he walked over to the two women lounging back in their lawn chairs and began to talk. It was too far for them to be able to hear anything that was said, but it was fairly obvious that he wasn't just going to spring it on them. Literally. At least he was giving them a warning…?

"What do you think they're saying?" Chouji mused aloud, voicing all of their question. Except Shikamaru. He was sleeping again.

"I bet he's getting rejected, is all," Kiba replied, looking smug. The clear bell of laughter resounded from across the yard, and they waited for the presumed to be rejected blonde to return to their side of the fence. But… He wasn't moving away from the two chicks. All eyes glued to the scene next door, it was a bit of a surprise when one of the girls leaned over to grab a remote of some sort, and pointed it to some kind of electronic in the corner of their patio. With the point came a crescendo of sound. Well… Music.

To be more specific, Lady Gaga.

"The hell…" Kiba muttered as the beginning beats of Boys Boys Boys carrier over to their ears.

"They seriously took him up on it." Sakura had been the blonde's best friend for years now, and even she had not expected him to actually go through with the deal.

"Way to go, Captain Obvious," Ino chided, resulting in the prompt glare of her roseate friend. Their attention returned to Naruto, who, after his initial laughing fit at the song picked for him, was working on unzipping the windbreaker jacket in a way that really was too alluring to the females of the group. Hey, what could they help? Nice looking body plus decent looks plus pre-established interests made for an interesting mix.

"I'm just glad you told him to go to those two. I don't want to be seeing that close up," Sasuke drawled, turning around so he didn't have to watch. As the song struck the first chorus, the jacket was pulled off, discarded off to the side. Now the hem of the shirt was crawling up over the tanned torso that was a good testament to the blonde's athlete status.

Pink the same shade of her hair brushed Sakura's cheek, a modest mirror of the crimson that flooded Hinata's whole face. Ino brought her hand to her lips and wolf-whistled, bringing the blonde now-a-stripper's attention to the crowd he had ditched. He turned in a circle, granting them a peek of toned abdominals that he'd worked hard for, before returning his attention to the intended audience. The orange fabric of his shirt moved up and up until it was over his head, joined with the jacket. Even with the lack of excitement in the strip, the casual roll of narrow hips plus the total smoothness put into it was enough to make it a show.

"_I'm not loose, I like to party!"_

Springing forward, Naruto shot between the pair of sunbathers that were obviously enjoying their free show, feet connecting with the wall directly behind them and running up until they pushed him away from the wall. Kiba did something akin to a flail, gaping as the wall-backflip granted his friend a round of applause from the girls.

"I taught him that! That little whore!" he whined, turning away with a huff. Past shirt taking off, it wasn't okay for him to watch further. Already the other guys were either totally not caring, or laughing at the situation. And the trio of girls at the patio were still watching, because that _was_ okay.

"Shhh. Favorite part of the song," Ino scolded him, waving her hand dismissively. "And I bet he pulled it off better than you could anyway." The pale blonde girl tacked on, leaving the Inuzuka male scowling even deeper.

The buckle of a belt came undone, and Naruto slid it off, undoing the jean's button and zipper before hooking thumbs into the belt loops, dragging the waistband lower and lower on his hips. A clatter at the table brought the attention away from the blonde and to the Hyuuga heiress that sat there. Well. Was sitting. Now she was obviously not conscious, having practically fallen out of her own seat after fainting.

Sakura and Ino moved to either side of the shy girl, pulling her back up straight in her seat. It had been a long time since any of them had seen Hinata faint, but hey. The presentation of male physique going on was obviously enough to bring back a bit of the past to the now. Immediately Kiba and Shino moved in to take over, having gotten well accustomed to their close friend's tendency to just randomly fall over all fainted-like. Dipping fingers into the water she had been drinking, they flicked the beads of moisture at her face.

"Is she going to be okay?" Sakura asked them, hardly worried but acting it. All of them knew that Hinata like to drop over around Naruto, but well… And she was a medic-to-be. She knew how this kind of stuff worked. But it was a good distraction from the finale of the 'show'.

"Yeah. She'll wake up in a few minutes," Shino answered, lacking any sort of emotion or true caring over the situation. How typical… Nobody really noticed as the fading notes of Lady Gaga stopped, or the light applause that the blonde next door was being showered with.

"I thought she'd got over it…" Kiba muttered, watching as she started to stir.

"What's going on?" Oh, there Naruto was. His blonde head was popped over the gate, arms pulling him up. Bare arms, for that matter. He wasn't coming over here without having gotten dressed again, was he…?

"Nothing, dobe," Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes. The wannabe-stripper hauled himself onto their side of the fence, revealing that he had at least had the decency to tug up his pants before launching himself back into their presence. Shirt and jacket were slung over his shoulder, and belt too. Walking back up onto the deck, he tried to figure out what the hell was happening, finally noticing the surrounded Hinata. His brow furrowed with worry, and not thinking like usual, he darted forward to be right up in the business of things.

"Is she all right?" he asked, obviously forgetting that he was shirtless and generally the reason why the faints occurred.

"Yes, she'll be fine. If you just back off, idiot," Kiba retorted, obviously still a bit miffed at the whole 'he used the move I taught him' thing. Yet, he still didn't, because Naruto didn't think that he was gonna cause any harm for serious.

Huffing, Sakura grabbed Naruto's upper arm to pull him away from the scene. With hardly enough room to maneuver, his foot ended up catching on the leg of a chair while he was spun around, sending him teetering onto the roseate rather unceremoniously. Using hands on his broad chest to keep him from crushing her, she shoved back against his weight, stopping the fall. It was practically instant that a bright flush colored her cheeks, and she took her hands off of him like he was a burning stove top.

Which he might as well have been, given the palpable jolt she felt through her palms when they landed on him. And no, not like the 'Oh fuck he's heavy and it hurts' kind of jolt. Like the 'Wow, this is nice and fuck I can't like this' kind of jolt.

Ignoring the odd look he gave her, the roseate moved away from him without looking back.

"Hinata!" Ino's shrill voice declared, the first one to notice that the Hyuuga had managed to stir completely, looking around bleary eyed at those surrounding her. A bright blush hit her cheeks, and she cast her gaze down to avoid looking at them.

"O-oh…" she mumbled, finally regaining enough confidence in herself to smile meekly up at Shino and Kiba, who were directly at her side. But oh, there was Naruto. Shirtless and turning around, smiling at her, not that much bothered by Sakura's show of Hot Potato.

And then she fainted again.

…

"You dumbass."

"How was I supposed to know that'd make her do it again? Ouch!"

"Shut up, we told you! Now sit your ass down since it's your turn."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, having just been thunked with a closed fist. Great friends, he and Kiba… Well, now that Hinata was back to being awake after the second time, and he had his shirt on, and everybody was back to sitting normally, the blonde could think of who to ask.

"Sai. Truth or Dare?" As much as everybody was really curious about Sai's life, Naruto couldn't help but hope that the mystery boy picked dare. Any question that he could ask had a high chance of being changed into something extremely sexual, and frankly, no one wanted to hear Sai go off on a tangent about penises and who or who didn't have one.

"What I've gathered from this game is that the males are required by the unspoken laws of masculinity to pick dare," Sai replied, tilting his head to the side while he thought it over. "So for the sake of following the trend, I guess dare."

Naruto smirked, closing his eyes and humming lightly. This could be a chance to get back at the emotionally challenged boy for all of the jabs that had been made… But noooo. He'd just have fun with it, instead.

"Well, we all know you're an artist. Show us your current sketchbook." A simple enough request, really. Although Sai had never really offered to show anybody the book's content, he hadn't ever said that it was forbidden or something weird like that. Shrugging, he got up and went inside, looking just as emotionless and always. He was only gone a moment before he was back once more, a thick, hefty pad of paper in his hand. Extending it out to Naruto, he sat back down after the blonde grabbed it.

Kiba moved to look over his shoulder, and the two opened the sketchpad cautiously. Pretty much looking like a dragon would pop out of the pages and rip of their heads.

"You don't want to look all through it," Sai remarked simply, looking neither embarrassed or fidgety that they were going to look at his arts. Naruto snorted, and continued flipping pages. People sitting, a landscape, a lion of some sort… Reaching a divider in it that stated 'SEMESTER CHANGE' at the top, it was quickly apparent _why_ exactly Sai had said that.

Kiba's jaw dropped open, and Naruto's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Sai! What the hell kind of art class are you taking?" Naruto asked, obviously appalled. But still, the pages turned…

"A study of the human body."

"Naked?"

"Yes, Naruto. As self-conscious as you are with your body, not everybody else is like that," Sai continued, smiling that creeper status smile again. More pages flipped. "It's really fascinating. We get really inspirational prompts…"

"Yeah, we can see that," Naruto scoffed, and ignored the expressions of mild curiosity found on his peers. Naked people, half naked people, more naked people, some just bust shots… Yes, the drawings and sketches were good, but sometimes there was just too close a resemblance to somebody in their 'party' for it to be comfortable…

"You don't want to see the end, Naruto," Sai drawled, repeating himself like he knew it was futile anyway. Despite the warnings and that subconscious knowledge of what they would find, more flippy flipping proceeded. And then it stopped. And then Kiba started laughing really hard, and Naruto gaped open mouthed at the page that was obviously sooooo controversial.

"I think they found the page…" Sai said blankly, the slightest hint of amusement on his face. He had warned them. Twice, in fact.

"What is it?" Ino asked with an eye roll, standing up to snatch away the sketchpad with a huff. Bringing up the paper to her face, she squinted like she was frickin' blind when she had perfectly fine vision. It took a moment for the drawing to process in her mind, and then she extended it out so overdramatically to look at it from afar. "Is that who I think it is…?"

"Depends on who you're thinking of," Sai replied. If any word could be used to describe him… Smug was almost it.

Naruto looked up at the 'artist', something akin to hate only derived from the deepest and darkest depths of Hell in his eyes. But not really. He just looked pretty appalled and angry.

"What the hell, Sai? What kind of prompt was that one!"

"It said it at the top."

"I was more focused on the _drawing._"

"I knew you would be, if I ever showed you. See? Proof that it's possible." Insert creeper status smile here. Kiba and Sasuke launched forward, despite the laughs from dog-breath, to keep Naruto from reaching across the space between he and Sai and strangling the guy.

"What is it of?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes at the drama of it all. Surely nothing could be bad enough to warrant a strangling. Well, she hadn't seen it yet, had she?

Ino snorted, and handed over the sketch to Sakura. Another set of squinting, bringing it away from face, and then looks of astonishment. Her jaw dropped a bit, and blood rose in her face. "That's Naruto and Sasuke?" she squeaked, giving the drawing pad back to her blonde companion.

"Yes. The prompt required I put people I knew in situations pictured in the room. That's the first set of that assignment." Well, as much as that was an explanation, yes, it didn't really explain much.

"So you picked a sex scene," Ino said blatantly.

"With Naruto and Sasuke," Sakura added.

"And Naruto's topping." Kiba threw in, snorting back another bout of laughter.

Sasuke kinda look up blankly at Sai, and blinked. "…What?"

And that's how Sai got the black eye that would totally 'beautify' the right side of his face.

…

…

…

**OKAY I SORRY. This one is gonna have to be divided up into two chapters. xD; This is a pretty good place to stop. So yeah! This chapter is mostly for laughs; I need more laughs in my stuff, kthx. The next half with half laughs too, but also srs bzn stuff at the end 8D Reviews are love, hoped you like –heart- **

**LOL REPOST. orz**


	4. Truth or Dare Part 2

"Was that really all that necessary?"

"Ask that about your drawing."

"…"

Nursing an ice pack to the check bone injured in Sasuke's little show of rage (aka bitch fit), Sai sighed a bit, looking around at the group for the next victim of the game. And considering the trend of this meeting, yeah, victim was exactly the right terminology needed. He couldn't round back on anybody who had already been picked… Ah! A certain area of the population had yet to been called on.

"Sakura." The roseate just about flinched as her name was called, and Ino laughed a bit. Nobody really wanted Sai to call on them. He just didn't know where to draw the line. And not in a Kiba kind of way, either. Like… He just didn't know where that barrier that marked the okay and not okay truths/dares was located, and it really made for a hilarious- totally not cool time.

"Truth or dare?" Despite the blossoming bruise on his face, he smiled practically innocently. If it weren't for the fact they all knew better, maybe they would have thought he was sweet and naive. Well. They all knew better.

"Truth," she groaned in reply, peering over at Sai through fingers that hid most of her face. An expression similar to something thoughtful dwelled on his ice-pack-covered features, and the suspense was heavy in the air. Would he pick something personal? Something totally and utterly random? Something humiliating to the point that if he were found alive the next day it would be a serious surprise?

An almost literally lightbulb appeared over Sai's head, his face lighting up as he seemed to have come up with his question.

"Sakura. Have you ever seen a real penis?"

… Well, not quite the humiliating/death-causing, but it was enough to cause her face to turn red. Ino snickered at her side, and the guys looked around awkwardly. Not much was known on her love life, really, except that she was obviously having some serious issues picking whether she hated or wanted Naruto. None of them knew of a boyfriend or any sort of relationship.

"Or thought of any of the ones here?"

Oooh. There went the humiliating/dead-causing part of the question. Sai probably would have done fine if he had just stuck with the former bit, but nooo. Had to go and add the second half.

Sakura's jaw dropped a bit, and a loud snort/guffaw thing came from Ino. The awkwardness in the air suddenly thickened tenfold, and the shade of red on the pink-haired girl's face deepened. Sai stared at her intently, obviously expecting an answer to the question. Her mouth moved with the beginnings of an answer, and eyes flicked over to Naruto before flashing back to Sai. Unnoticed by most except for the observant/oblivious/emotionally challenged teen, his smile took a turn, morphing into a frown.

"Naruto doesn't count. He's dick-less."

Now it was Naruto's jaw's turn to drop a bit, and Kiba had to grab his arm from adding to the bruises on their host's face.

But nobody really noticed as Sakura rose from her seat and shot forward, clenched first colliding with the side of Sai's face.

And that's how Sai got the second black eye that would totally 'beautify' the left side of his face.

…

After Sakura and Naruto were returned to their normal seating positions, and Sai was giving a Tylenol for the throbbing headache two repeated punches to the face had given, Sakura sighed and realized it was her turn. Somewhere in the mix she had replied to her question, but it was too lost in the sauce for anybody to have really absorbed the information, therefore making it irrelevant. Except to those who had heard it.

Anyway, the roseate hummed lightly to herself, tapping her chin thoughtfully while green eyes roved over those sitting around her. It wouldn't be fair to repeat someone, which knocked off Naruto and Sai… But that didn't leave out their favorite asshat from the party pick.

"Sasuke, truth or dare?" she asked him lightly, ignoring the pout from Ino beside her. Obviously the whole 'best girl friends' thing was expected to carry over, so Ino would be saved from any humiliation that the boys could dish out on her. Well, she was wrong. Screw that shit, it was time to pull something good. Not as crazy as the whole strip thing (which she would probably remember for a long time because Naruto was surprisingly good at stripping, what the hell), but something pretty gross. As much as she loved asshat as a brother after getting over that phase in her younger years, it was one of her guilty pleasures, antagonizing him.

"… I don't want to have to deal with snide comments, so dare," the Uchiha replied with a sigh, sipping at the water he had in his hand. Just like always, he seemed lazy and tired, bored to almost a Shikamaru degree. Except of course, he had to look like an Aristotle model at the same time. What a douchehag.

"Haaaa. Not a good idea. I dare you to eat whatever the hell Kiba and Naruto can concoct in the next ten minutes. Only things found in the kitchen can be used, and it has to fit in a normal cereal bowl." Something so old school, it really was a pain in the ass. And especially who she picked to make it… Damn. Well, the two boys in charge of the creation were looking quite thrilled; Kiba just liked pissing people off, and Naruto just _loved_ pissing Sasuke off.

With a bored wave of his hand, Sasuke wordlessly agreed. He had no choice; it wasn't nearly as… Demeaning as the strip, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to be one crappy ass dare. Practically on the verge of squee'ing, the two appointed chefs dashed to the kitchen, already sniffing around in the cabinets for particularly nasty stuff. Sai, as it was his house and the idea of either of them in his kitchen messing with things was horrifying, followed after them, demanding that they put everything back and if they messed up his organization, he would draw a gay portrait of them and tape it to every available wall at school.

Small chit-chat initiated as the group waited for the dare preparation to be completed; random things, really. Graduation, plans on what to do after… Teachers, school work, that one jerk sub they had had last week. Music, blah. All that sort of good stuff that older teenagers such as themselves talked about. At the approximate end of the ten minutes, the door opened to reveal a Sai looking… Disgusted? Since when did Sai look disgusted? Since when did he look anything but that creeper status happy? So that was the first warning of the thing that followed.

Holding a plain bowl in his hands, the blonde emerged first after Sai. And the smell of… Just nastiness immediately perforated the air. Sakura's face lit up with surprise, and the expressions of the others were already lined with pity for Sasuke. Well… She'd been expecting bad, but this… This was just _horrendous._

It was hard to tell what all exactly was in the bowl, but just from the top… Huge cloves of garlic and slices of onion topped the mix, drizzled over top with what appeared to be chocolate syrup. Melted cheese oozed from the rim, dripping onto the floor (much to Sai's dismay). What appeared to be a fish poked out from beneath said dairy, dipped in sugar. Pretzel sticks jabbed up from the mess, and that was all that could be seen at first. And it was packed full. Kiba followed after Naruto, and ushered the Uchiha whose misfortunate it was to eat the grossness to the last seat at the patio table.

Spreading out a nice array of knives and forks (he even had the consideration to bring a spoon), Naruto finally set down the bowl in front of Sasuke with a huge grin, albeit a bit strained. Even he couldn't really handle the pungent stench wafting up from the concoction. Taking a step back, Kiba and Naruto watched their victim with delicious victory glazed in their eyes.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you guys?" Chouji voiced from behind them, half-laughing. "I wouldn't even eat that."

"Oh snap," Ino added, hiding a giggle from behind her hand which had been doubling as a nose plug. The smell of vinegar and garlic plus onions was not pleasant.

"… This is why we don't play this game with them two…" Sasuke sighed, knowing that by obligation of his manhood and ability to retain his supreme awesome status (lol jk, just the last bit of dignity he could hold on to), he would indeedly have to just about murder himself with the food bowl thing. Picking up a fork, with a look that went so far beyond disgust and repulsion it was seriously hilarious, the Uchiha jabbed the prongs into a small piece of garlic, staring at it as something… Gooey dripped off of it.

"… I don't think I even want to know," he grumbled, sticking it in his mouth. Immediately his face contorted in a look crossed between torture and the urge to vomit.

"That was syrup covered sugar-dipped garlic," Naruto commented with a smile.

"You're one disgusting little fuck, Naruto," Kiba laughed, looking about ready to jump up and down and clap his hands like a little old lady.

"Hey! Just wait till he gets to the chocolate filled fish. That was yours, sicko," the blonde replied, eyes glittering with a playful maliciousness. Sasuke's already pale face paled further, as he chewed and swallowed. It seemed as though Naruto had really taken advantage of their friendship status… He knew he hated sweet things, and now here was the payment for giving away that knowledge. Plus just about every other nasty thing that could be found in the kitchen amassed into the one dish.

It was almost painful, watching the poor asshat try to eat the 'meal' set out for him. As they found out as he slowly made progress through the bowl, not only was there a chocolate stuffed fish, there was fruit slices soaked in vinegar and dipped in combinations of salt and sugar, broccoli smothered in gRape jelly and peanut butter, baked beans covered in a molasses like substance, and on top of a thick piece of meatloaf, which had managed to absorb just about anything that was semi-liquid or more watery into its gross spore things. And now Sai was out of leftovers for dinner.

"I hope you both burn in hell," Sasuke moaned as he leaned back in his chair, tilting his head back as his cheeks puffed out. Him throwing up was a serious threat, but he was making his best effort to… Not. Kiba looked over into the mostly empty bowl, and stared down at the liquid mixture still at the bottom. He nudged Naruto with his elbow, and pointed at it with a questioning look. Before that questioning look could be answered, though, Sakura sent her own condemning glare across to the two terror chefs.

"No. He doesn't need to lick it clean. He's been through enough already…" she told the two, shooting a beam of pity at the Uchiha. He was clutching his stomach while his face turned a pale shade of green, a queasy sounding rumble from inside him causing her to edge away ever so slightly.

"Well fine. But if he's not well enough to take his own turn…" Kiba trailed off, crossing his arms across his chest with a smirk. They all knew who was hijacking the truth or dares in this joint, and it really was justifiable comment. Sasuke didn't look ready to talk, let alone think of something to truth or dare anybody. Really, the only thing on his mind was probably along the lines of "EWWWWWWWWWWWW-THAT-WAS-FUCKING-GROSS-HOLY-HELL-BALLS-I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-I-JUST-ATE-THAT-SHIT-OH-MY-GODS-DISGUSTING".

But, surprising them all, Sasuke fixated eyes full of spite and maliciousness on the Inuzuka. "You, bitch-dog-face. Truth or dare." The words were a bit mumbled and grumbled, accompanied by more stomach rumbling. Grimacing, he groaned while he thought of a dare. Because really, the chances that Kiba would ever pick a truth was impossible to impossible to the most impossible possibility.

"Dare, of course," the dog-boy sing-songed back at Sasuke. Naruto shook his head disapprovingly; although there was hardly anything that Sasuke could do to beat Kiba and his mess of a delight-ina-bowl, the duckbutt would at least do his best to kick down Kiba's high pedestal a bit. Lucky for the blonde he was a friend and had stayed mostly behind after Sasuke was done eating the surprise feast; really, he didn't like being the target of the Uchiha's rage or anger or annoyance. It was just plain emo-tastic.

"Give Shino a lap dance."

Even if Kiba didn't do it, it wouldn't have mattered. The look on his face was enough to send Naruto into a laughing fit, and most everybody else were, at the very least, amused to some degree. Sasuke was able to afford a smile despite the nausea. The only one not being entertained by the prospect was the victim in this case; as much as nobody wanted to be mean to the bug boy, Sasuke knew that beside Naruto, Kiba was closest to Shino, and Naruto would make the whole event too funny, so no on the blonde.

The Inuzuka groaned and looked at Shino indignantly, ignoring the sulking expression on his friend's face. "How long of a lap dance?" he questioned, his face acting as though he had like five Warheads in his mouth. And those little bitches were sour.

Before Sasuke answered, Naruto leaned over with a too-big grin for the comfort of Kiba, and whispered something in the Uchiha's ear. If there was one thing anyone knew about the blonde, it was that he would do anything to help anybody damage the ego of his best buddy ever. Because that's how they rolled. Like seriously. It wasn't a healthy relationship, probably, but oh the fuck well.

"A few weeks ago, we watched The Proposal at my house. I know you remember the lap dance Sandra Bullock's character had to sit through…" Sasuke drawled. It seemed that in the prospect of a hilarious show, he could afford to hide his upset stomach problems. "Well. You have to do the same to Shino. Including the same degree of… Undressed-ness?" The Uchiha tried to word, and Naruto nodded with a smirk. This was payback for the strip-off. Because Ramone's dance was just terrible and horrible and it was enough to give sane people of any sexuality nightmares for life.

"…Exactly the same?" Kiba asked with a shudder, already weighing his options. Everybody knew he would do it; that was a given. But still, he had to go through the whole 'is my dignity worth my manliness in a game?' Which of course, it was. Sasuke replied with a nod, a smug grin on his face. The dog-boy sighed and looked sorrowfully over at the bug-boy, resignation clear in his features.

"No… Sasuke, come on!" Shino protested, his voice higher than usual in his desperation. There was no way he was going to let Kiba flash his package that close to his face. No way in hell. No, never, nope.

Or at least that's what he had told himself. Not that he kept true to it, because fifteen minutes later he was sitting down in a chair, pretty close to tears in light of the horrible sexual harassment being done to him. It was a horror he would never be able to forget, and no amount of eye-closing would be able to banish the close-up of what he had already seen. But at least it was over. Kiba was standing off the side, appearing quite disgusted with himself while he pulled on his pants.

"You guys are sick and twisted," he accused, eyes resting on Naruto, who was still wiping away tears of laughter. Sakura and Ino both looked shocked, while Hinata was sitting with her head in her arms so she didn't have to see any of it. Two faints in one day was enough for her. Everybody else… Was just there, with rather neutral expressions since there was nothing they could have said that would describe how disturbing that had been.

"I think you were too good for that to have been your first time," Naruto retorted with a laugh, raising his hands to block the empty soda can that flew at his face.

"Pleasure to see you were watching me so closely."

"Oh baby. Anyway, your turn, manwhore," the blonde continued, leaning back against the deck railing with a new drink in his hand. Mmm, … Kiba tugged his shirt back over his head, still glaring daggers at his friend.

"I'm gonna make you pay, gay virgin blonde," Kiba growled, looking over his shoulder at the still petrified Shino. Poor bug boy…

"You can't~" Naruto sing-songed back, obviously just a little bit smug. By little bit meaning extremely so. "I've already gone. Can't call on me again." Which was a valid point. But necessarily one that would matter to the indignant lap-dancer. If anybody knew those two, they knew that they would do just about anything to get back at each other. It was terrible really, but it was one of those odd, masochistic and sadistic relationships that spawn from devil's essence. Meaning sports or pranks.

"Ino, truth or dare?" So he wasn't even gonna reply… Hmm… Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Inuzuka, suspicious of his intent. Ino was a slut. Like really. She would pick dare just because she didn't have the dignity to pick truth like a normal girl in their group would. Or at least, that was Naruto's opinion. He didn't think much of Ino after she had tried to bounce around all of the guys in their group, plus others outside of it. He could still remember walking past the teacher's lounge one time the previous year, and seeing a certain familiar looking head of blonde hair pushed back against a wall… Shuddering at the thought of student on teacher grossness, he returned his attention to the game.

"Dare, o'course," she replied with a scoff, eyes twinkling with excitement. Kiba and she were too alike in mindset for this to be a good pairing in dare-picker and dare-do-er.

"Make out with Naruto. I'm talking serious business. Fifteen seconds minimum, and it will be timed by Ichiraku seconds."

Naruto felt his jaw drop a bit, and a bit of shock mingled with the flare of anger towards his friend. What the hell was he doing? Kiba knew how much he really almost hated the Yamanaka girl… This was just a bit too much, even for him. And then the whole problems with Sakura thing… Looking over at the roseate herself, he saw a look of similar surprise on her features, but directed towards Ino. Because she was going to do it, as made apparent as she stood and walked over to him. Naruto saw the anger in the green eyes, but his view was obstructed as the pig herself moved in closer.

"Kiba, you doucheba- mm!" his frustrated yelling was cut off as his fellow blonde pounced forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and covering his mouth with hers. She was too good at that. His arms went outwards to flail, and he tried to pull away but was held securely by her grasp at his neck. What the hell, this was like a prison. She obviously was not giving a shit whether or not he cared for this or not.

"Two Ichiraku, three Ichiraku, four Ichiraku…" Kiba chanted from where he stood. The moment Naruto felt her tongue try to slip between his lips, he closed off his mouth, and braced his hands against her before shoving. At the same time, he heard a door slam shut as Ino stumbled backwards with a pout.

"Hey! What the hell. I can't finish my dare if you're being such a little bitch about it," she whined, but Naruto was really incapable of caring any less. Looking about ready to rip off both Ino's and Kiba's head, he looked towards the door that he had heard slam.

"Who left?" he asked in general to the group, knowing Kiba or Ino wouldn't know because those (man)whores had been too busy being jerkwads to notice. Before Sai could open his mouth, Naruto noticed that a certain pink-haired girl he was so confused over was missing. Groaning, he turned around and beat his head against the desk railing, thoroughly ready to just wail Kiba in the face.

…

"You ass! She was right there, and you still dared Ino that!"

It was quite a few hours later, and still Naruto was fuming over the fanfuckingtastic end to the 'fun' day. Oh yeah. It'd been fun. Until Kiba and Ino had to go and fuck things up pretty bad.

"Hey! I kinda forgot she was there, okay? I said I was sorry, man," Kiba grumbled through the phone.

Pacing across his living room, the blonde looked seriously frustrated. He had tried to call Sakura first, to see what was wrong (even though it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it had been Ino's whorish way of totally pouncing on him which made him even more confused because jealousy was just weird to deal with), but had received no answer. So when Kiba had called, yeah, he was just about ready to chew the Inuzuka a new asshole. But even Naruto couldn't stay angry for long.

Sighing, he flopped onto his couch. "Whatever man. It doesn't matter anyway." Bullshit it didn't. But there was nothing to fix it, so he'd just have to get through it… Somehow. "I'm gonna go. Need to study for that test on Tuesday." Another lie. The day the blonde studied would be the day of the frickin' zombie apocalypse.

"Dude, I'm sorry. Talk to you—" The phone clicked off as the perplexed teen groaned, and buried his face in his hands while he thought. There wasn't much more that could be done right then… So there was no point in thinking. Time to massacre juggernauts for shits and grins to take out anger? Yes. Time to massacre juggernauts. Picking up the Xbox remote, the blonde allowed himself to drift into the world of Modern Warfare 2, leaving his thoughts for another time.

…

"Sakura, what the hell happened today?"

Oh, how she hated Ino's voice right now. The anger and jealousy and just maliciousness Sakura felt towards her best girl friend was overwhelming. "I left."

"Well duh. I kinda saw that. But why?"

Seriously, was Ino making true to the dumb blonde stereotype? Why the hell else would she leave? Did she not notice the timing of her departure? What the hell. But the frustrated roseate would play innocent for now. "Because I wanted to."

"I thought you weren't interested in Naruto."

The bluntness of the statement made Sakura wince. She hadn't been! But then things changed and it felt awkward when she noticed how much he had changed. How he had gone from the annoying little pest of their elementary school years, to the best friend of their middle and high school years, and then… She couldn't define it now. She didn't know what he had changed into now that it was their last year of school. But he had changed, and she didn't want that to be the case.

"I'm not." Way to be see-through, Sakura though to herself, her mouth twisting into a grimace. A blind man would be able to see that lie.

"Bullshit, Sakura! You charged out when I was making out with-"

"Because I was jealous, okay? Maybe I am a little bit…" she trailed off, biting her lip to keep herself from continuing. There had to be a way to get out of this conversation…

"Why were you jeal-"

"I gotta go. Studying for that test on Tuesday. Bye Ino." Her thumb grazed the red button, instantly disconnecting her friend. Her verdant eyes stared down at the phone in her hand, and in a bout of anger, she threw it across her room. Sprawling back onto her bed, she watched her ceiling fan go round and round, letting her thoughts drain away as the blades blurred and became single depending on how she looked at them. Today… Was just not a good day.

…

…

…

**By the way, yeah, I TOTALLY LOVED MAKING SASUKE EAT THAT GROSSNESS D It amused me to no end, thinking of that. So… Yeah. Ino's a hor, Sasuke's a douche, so I make them bad in mah storehs. So leave me alone. OKAY BAI NAO. **

**OH AND SIDE NOTE I MAKE SAKURA BIPOLAR LOL. In case you didn't notice. Anyway, reviews are love but yeah! –poofs-**

… **repost.**


End file.
